One beautiful autumn
by Rajiinn
Summary: Two years after Senna's death Ichigo has long since come to terms with her death. However after a mysterious encounter they're given a second chance to have the life they never could the first time around. Contains IchiSenna.
1. Don't let me go

_Hey everyone. It's been a while since i've wrote anything so i thought i'd take a break from exam prep and write something. I always liked the idea of IchiSenna but there doesn't really seem to be many stories about it (or at least not in comparison to IchiRuki), so i thought i may as well write my own. So for all you IchiSenna fans out there here's something for you to read. Enjoy!_

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><p>It was a cool summer's night; the air was still and had the lingering scent of the barbecues that had dotted Karakura town a few hours beforehand. It was approaching the start of the school holidays and Ichigo had a clear plan of what he was going to do during the holidays this year: absolutely nothing. However since this was Ichigo nothing still consisted of killing any rogue hollows that happened to be roaming the town.<p>

"Dammit," Ichigo thought to himself. "The afro man must have beaten me to it."

He had been going to deal with a hollow on the other side of town, however after only a few minutes the reiatsu had vanished. Seeing as it was a nice night Ichigo decided he might as well walk back. His house was only a mile or so away and it wasn't as if he had anything important to do at school tomorrow, or anywhere else for that matter.

After a few minutes he was crossing the bridge that connected the town's shopping district to the residential district. Ichigo had always liked this part of town. It had a way of bringing back some... fond memories. The trademark scowl on Ichigo's face softened slightly at this thought: it wasn't very often that he thought of _her_ nowadays, but when he did it always brought a bittersweet smile to his face. He stopped for a moment to rest on the bridge's handrail. It had been a long time since he last saw her, almost a year in fact. Ichigo sighed quietly to himself and thought back. He could still remember practically everything about her; her voice, the way she spoke, the way she'd spin as she ran when she couldn't wait to get somewhere. And her eyes, Ichigo thought as he closed his own, he could never forget her eyes. He didn't know whether it was her deep amber irises or the way they burnt so passionately despite their smouldering colour, but there was something about them that cried out to him that she was something special, something irreplaceable, and something that he would never find again. Ichigo's heart sank at this. He stood for a moment, deep in his gloomy thoughts, before deciding that if anyone knew he was thinking like this that he'd never be able to live it down, grinning to himself slightly. He opened his eyes, and that's when he saw it.

It was only faint, but in the river below him there was a glow. It was green and swirled gently in the otherwise calm river. Ichigo shivered slightly: the resemblance in how the river looked now and on the night of her death was uncanny, albeit on a smaller scale. The water had a reflection on it and a wave of deep violet swept across it's surface. He leant forwards and squinted his eyes in order to get a better look, and as he did so he heard an almost voice-like noise. He could see gradual flashes of white pass over the surface now, and leant closer still to try and work out what it was as the flashes gave way to leaves blowing across a concrete path. Suddenly Ichigo jumped back, his cool demeanour being replaced with a look of confusion. A girl in black cloth leapt through the air, slaying the flashes of white with a tornado from her zanpakto.

"I remember that..." Ichigo thought anxiously to himself. "Are these my memories...?"

In his head he could hear _her_ voice playing back to him; it had been so long he had almost forgotten that dizzying feeling he got when he heard her speak. Ichigo looked longingly into the river, his mind riveting with the raw emotion flooding back into him. He had the anxiety, the butterflies, and the grief from those few days hitting him in waves as he stood for what must have been hours gaping at his memories of her being replayed one after the other. It was only too soon that the sun began to rise and the mirage started fading. Ichigo stayed until there was nothing left but a whisper of a voice laughing joyfully in his mind before grudgingly taking his eyes away from the river and walking back home to his bed.

The next night he went to the bridge again. It was about eleven o'clock, the same time as last night, and Ichigo waited feverishly for the mirage. Minutes passed and the river remained quiet and colourless. "Come on..." Ichigo muttered desperately.

The minutes ticked away and Ichigo was wondering if he actually did see something in the water last night or if he had been on some massive hollow-induced trip. Just as he was about to head home the water started swirling and a gentle green glow started spilling out across the rippling surface. Ichigo's eyes widened and his breathing became fast and shallow. He threw himself against the handrail, watching intently as a young violet haired shinigami span and jumped within the waters, her playful laughter toying mercilessly with his sanity. Once again it was only in the early hours of the morning that Ichigo tore himself away from the bridge's handrails. He trudged home, groggily attempting to remember if he had actually blinked since last night...

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><p>Night after night the same thing happened. Ichigo spent hour after hour staring into the depths of the river. He spent the school day mindlessly daydreaming and most of his time at home sleeping, which his delighted father assumed was because his son had spent each night "becoming a man". Admittedly Isshin was a little worried at first when Ichigo didn't attempt to break his arm for saying such a comment, but after thinking about it he decided that Ichigo's lack of retaliation meant that he was right about his son's night time activities.<p>

It was the seventh night of Ichigo's riverside vigil now and once again he was planning on spending his night looking longingly into the reflection of his memories. Tonight however he was going to be on the bridge as soon as the sun went down to make sure he didn't miss anything. He leant casually against the handrail once again, staring idly into the waters. He didn't care that he might have to wait hours to see her again. The important thing was that he would see her again, even if it was only his memories. To his delight he only needed to wait for a few minutes before the mirage appeared, although it was a little difficult to see it in the dusty twilight.

He spent the first hour in much the same way he spent every night before: he stood pressed up against the bridge's handrail and watched intently as he recalled all the times he had spent with her. However after the first hour Ichigo noticed something. The infectious giggle that plagued his inner thoughts for all those nights was missing tonight. To begin with he ignored it, content with watching the girl frolic happily in his memories. But as the time passed more and more things went missing. Scenes from his memory were skipped, others replayed over and over. Still Ichigo didn't mind. He could be with her. That's all that mattered.

After a few hours a frown had crept across Ichigo's face. The river was showing things that he couldn't remember. For the last hour it had replayed her last moments with him over and over again. That was bad enough on it's own, but now it was no longer showing a vibrant violet haired shinigami full of life and laughter. Now it was showing a scared young girl with her head resting against her knees, sobbing quietly. Ichigo leant further over the rails. He wanted to do something, anything, as long as it made her smile again. He hated this, being forced to watch her like this and not be able to do anything about it. Ichigo's eyes were stinging with frustration. He couldn't do anything to protect her.

"Senna..."

The girl looked up, her bright amber eyes contrasting the tears that were flowing down her checks. Ichigo broke out into a cold sweat.

"S...Senna...?"

Could she hear him?

The girl slowly stood up, trembling slightly as she did.

"...Ichi...go...?"

"Senna!"

Ichigo's eyes grew wide with fear. What was going on?

"Ichigo!" The girl cried out, her voice ragged with audible terror.

"SENNA!" Ichigo yelled back, reaching out desperately towards her. As he did so the straining handrail snapped and Ichigo plummeted towards the murky depths. He hit the surface and swam down as hard as his legs would let him, waving his arm blindly out in front of him. He felt a sliver of cloth underneath his fingers and clasped on to it before feeling his way around to a pair of shoulders. Ichigowrapped one arm around the midriff of the body and swam determinedly towards the surface with the other. He hit the surface but couldn't break it, letting out a bubble of air in surprise before bashing violently at it. The green vortex above him simply swirled ominously as he did so, his sight becoming gradually darker and his punches slowly weakened. The last comforting thought that crossed his mind before it succumbed to numbness was that he got to spend his last moments with her...

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><p>Ichigo prised his eyes open, his head heavy and uncomfortable. His vision was blurred but he could see a dim outline of a person standing over him.<br>"It's alright son, you just stay put."  
>"Is he going to to be alright?"<br>"Who is he? Does he have any id on him?"  
>"People have seen him standing on that bridge night after night, who knows what was going through the boy's mind."<br>"Is that woman dead mommy?"  
>"They said he wasn't breathing, it's a miracle that someone found him when they did..."<br>"Does anybody know who he is? Does he have any family we can contact?"

Ichigo's mind felt cluttered and lethargic. He looked wearily around at the small crowd standing around him. What happened? He tried to sit up put a medic put gently pushed him back down and shook his head. It was raining lightly and Ichigo shivered a little from his cold, wet clothes. He tried to recall what had happened but all he could remember was not being able to break through some sort of mirror.

"...Ichigo..."

The voice was weak and barely heard over the crowd but Ichigo sat bolt upright when he heard it. Senna.

"No! You have to relax!" A medic shouted to him as other medics grabbed his arms and legs.

"Get off of me!" Ichigo roared. "I have to make sure she's okay!"

"You've breathed in a lot of water! You need to stay still!"

With all the strength Ichigo could muster he freed his arms and scrabbled over to the girl. She was there in front of him, for real, for the first time in so long. She was lying on the floor motionless, half drowned, but alive.

"...Senna..." He whispered, as he weakly reached up to touch her cheek."...Senna..."

"...Ichigo..." She whispered back, tears dwelling in her amber eyes. "...Don't let me go..."

Ichigo said nothing, simply doing his best to wrap his arms around her shoulders. She nuzzled her head against Ichigo and brushed her hand delicately against his arm.

"...Never..." He finally replied.

Senna let out a faint giggle, spluttering as she did. She knew what he meant.

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><p><em>So what did you think? Good, bad, or somewhere in between, i don't mind. I'm happy as long as you leave me lots or reviews (hint hint) ;)<em>


	2. The morning after the night before

_Sorry for the wait! The last time I wrote for this story was back in january, which seems like an awfully long time ago now. Since then I've had exams and other important things which I had to put before writing. But now all those sort of things should be out of the way, so expect lots of updates!_

_As a small peace offering this chapter is pretty long to try and make up for the long wait. I've tried to write it in a way which gives quite a natural feeling progression to the story. Hopefully it does that and with any luck it's quality will meet its quantity, so there's nothing left to say now other than enjoy!_

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><p>Ichigo woke up to a thin beam of light pouring through a gap in his curtains onto his face. He drowsily registered the sounds of birds tweeting outside and could smell the calm summer's air wafting in through his window. It was morning.<p>

He turned over in his bed. He could remember having a dream about Senna again last night, although he couldn't quite remember what had happened in it. He thought about it for a moment, but the peaceful quiet of the summer morning was soon broken by loud footsteps charging up the stairs.

"GOOOOOOD MOOORNING ICHIIIIGOO-"

"Not a chance!" Ichigo roared as he leapt across his bedroom. Just as quickly as the door had burst open Ichigo had slammed it shut again, followed by the sound of a body slumping to the floor on the other side of the door.

"Right on the nose..." Isshin groaned, "You've learnt well to attack the vital gateway to the body!"

"Wouldn't that be the mouth?" Karin replied as she walked past, her voice muffled by the door.

"What? Ohh... possibly."

Dammit! I've forgotten the dream now, Ichigo thought to himself irritably. He walked back to his bed and laid down, trying to salvage what he could of a good dream. His sister and father were still bickering outside of his room;

"How can you even call yourself a doctor if you think the gateway to the body is the nose?" Karin asked exasperatedly.

"Hmhmhm," Isshin chuckled to himself, "These are the secrets you learn after forty years of medical practice!"

"How can you have had forty years of medical practice? You're only forty-three!". Karin pointed out before pausing to allow her father to argue with her. After he said nothing she continued with her assault; "That would have made you three!"

"I started from an early age!" Isshin retorted. "I was operating on Lego people from the age of fourth months old in order to gain vital experience in the medical field! By the time I was your age I could serve a whole town of Lego people in less than ten minutes!"

There was another pause in the argument.

"I feel sorry for that poor girl downstairs in clinic" Karin replied, this time with a slightly more remorseful tone in her voice.

Girl? Ichigo broke away from his day dreaming. He couldn't remember there being a girl in the clinic last time he checked. She must have been brought in sometime yesterday.

"Yes... she's lucky the medics brought her in when they did..." Replied Isshin. Ichigo noticed that his tone had changed as well to one of concern.

"The night might have been a bit rough for her," Isshin continued, "But I expect she'll be alright by the time she wakes up. I'll go and check on her in a while."

"I guess..." Karin said quietly. "Although I was referring to the fact that now she's being looked after by you. She'd have been better off in the water in my opinion."

Ichigo chuckled quietly to himself. Even the with a door between them he could still hear the gasp of shock from his father.

"H…HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH THINGS? Oh Masaki, how did it come to this? How can our daughter have such a low opinion of her father?" Isshin cried before running down stairs to be consoled by his wife's picture.

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><p>After a while Karin had finished in the bathroom, and poked her head around Ichigo's door on the way back to her room.<p>

"Hey Ichi, you okay?"

"Uh yeah, I'm fine, thanks."

"Good. I heard you had a fight with the medics last night."

"Medics huh?" Ichigo answered. He wasn't paying much attention to what Karin was saying as he was still staring at the ceiling and trying to remember bits of last night's dream. "Something about going swimming with Senna? Nahh that's not right..."

"Who's that girl you brought in with you anyway? Apparently she was with you when you decided to fall in the river."

"Idiot! I didn't fall in the river! I... wait, what girl?"

"The one downstairs in the clinic?"

Ichigo sat upright on his bed and looked at Karin. He couldn't remember any girl in the clinic.

"The one you brought home half-drowned?" Karin asked, waiting for the light bulb to click in her brother's head. She sighed tiredly; it must be one of Ichigo's slow days today.

"The one who you wouldn't let go of? It was like you were scared she was going to turn into dust in front of your eyes of something."

Ichigo vaguely remembered something Senna said to him in a dream once. "Don't let me go..."

"Dad was pretty annoyed with you, you know." Karin continued. "He was trying to give her something to help her breathe but you wouldn't get out of the w-"

"SENNA!" Ichigo shouted before dashing out of the room and down the stairs, leaving a stunned Karin in his wake. He sprinted through the house towards to clinic, frustrated at himself for having forgot. How could he forget something like that?

Ichigo reached the clinic and tore the doors open.

"S..Senna!" He choked as he burst through the door.

There she was, along with Isshin. She was sitting in the clinic bed, her hair messy from sleeping and her deep amber eyes were brightly staring back into his. It was only after a few moments that Isshin, who was sitting at her bedside, made himself known by continuing to explain to her about the bottle of pills he had in his hand. He quickly realized that she was taking no notice to his words.

"I'll explain these to you later." He announced before getting up from his chair. He walked over to the door, but before leaving whispered to Ichigo;

"Is this by any chance the young woman who has been making you into a man every night for the past week?"

"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled back at Isshin before punching him hard in the stomach.

"Oww!" Isshin wheezed before stumbling out the door. "Good punch..."

After he left it went quiet. For the first time in over two years they were together again, and it suddenly dawned on Ichigo that he should have thought of something cool to say before coming to see her. It wasn't as if he hadn't been thinking of things he could have said to Senna since the last time he saw her, it was just that now that she was actually sitting in front of him those things seemed somehow small and insignificant. After a few moments had passed he realized he was staring, and settled for a less than adequate "Hey".

"Hey." Senna replied.

"Are you okay...?"

"Yeah, although your dad said I need to take some antibiotics or something. It's only to make sure that I don't develop an infection from all the dirty water I breathed in." She stated. "Or something like that. I wasn't really listening." She added with a nervous giggle.

It went silent for a few moments. This is going to get awkward if I don't say something, Ichigo thought to himself.

"Uhhh…You wanna…uhh…go get some breakfast?"

"Sure." Senna smiled appreciatively. She took the bedcovers off and gingerly stepped off the bed. She was wearing what looked like a patient's gown, Ichigo thought to himself. It made sense as she wouldn't have been able to stay in wet clothes, and seeing her in a gown which ended just above the knee was something he could get used to. He didn't get long to look though, as when she put a second foot down she stumbled forward onto the floor. Ichigo grimaced before stepping towards her and offering her his hand.

"Thanks." Senna winced as she grabbed his hand and pulled herself off of the floor. "I guess I'm a little weak at the knees."

They look at each other for a moment, before Ichigo realized he was still holding her hand and tried to pass it off as nothing by running his hand through his ginger hair, earning a small giggle from Senna at his attempts to act smooth in front of her.

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><p>After a few minutes of careful walking as to avoid any more falls, the two of them got to the kitchen. Karin was sitting at the table watching television and was already dressed for school. Isshin was also sitting at the table and was drinking coffee whilst reading the morning newspaper. Yuzu meanwhile was busy cooking and was the first person to notice Ichigo walk into the room.<p>

"Good morning Ichi-ni!" Yuzu chirped, "We're having bacon and eggs this morning, would you like some?"

"Sure." Ichigo answered plainly. "Can Senna have some too?" He added, signaling to the purple haired girl who was hobbling through the door in tow. Yuzu turned around in surprise at the guest before giving her a cheery smile.

"Of course! I'll just fry some more eggs, they'll be done in a minute."

Ichigo walked up to the table and pulled a chair out for Senna to sit.

"Thank you." She said shyly as she hobbled over to the seat. Isshin looked up from his newspaper and gave Ichigo a sly smile.

"She can't walk properly." Ichigo announced loudly before his father was allowed jump to any conclusions, before pulling a chair out for himself and sitting in-between the two.

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><p>As promised Yuzu had finished cooking after a few minutes and had placed a plate of food in front of everyone. Yuzu placed a plate opposite Ichigo for herself and sat down.<p>

"You know Ichi, I thought it was soooo cute that you didn't want to leave Senna last night in case she needed you or felt scared." She said cheerily.

"I did that?" asked a confused Ichigo.

"Uh-huh." Yuzu mumbled between mouthfuls.

"Weird. I can't remember it."

Yuzu looked up from her breakfast. "Really?"

Isshin put his newspaper down and chuckled lightly to himself before slurping at his coffee.

"What's so funny?" Scowled Ichigo.

"Well that would be my fault that you can't remember." His father admitted. "I gave you some sleeping pills to get you to rest. The regular ones didn't work though, and I couldn't find any stronger ones so I gave you the next best thing."

"Which was?"

"Horse tranquilizer."

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "You..."

Karin looked up from the television; "Maybe the first pills would have worked if you'd put them in the right 'gateway' ."

Isshin made a gurgling sound in his coffee in protest before collecting his composure and calmly continuing to explain himself.

"I put them in his mouth! But he was so distraught over the thought of his girlfriend being in danger that-"

Ichigo scowled even harder and went to argue with him about his choice of words, but ended up choking on his eggs.

"-the sleeping pills did nothing. So I has to make a split second decision on whether to use the horse tranquilizer, or whether I should muster all of my fatherly courage in order to administer an enema to the body's second vital gatew- "

"DAAAAAD!" Yuzu whined loudly. "I don't think we should be talking about that sort of thing when we're eating! Especially not when there's a guest with us!" she said, signaling to Senna as she did. Senna however was too busy wolfing down her breakfast to listen to what was being said.

"So Senna, you're enjoying Yuzu's cooking then?" Ichigo asked in an attempt to change the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah, it's great! It's been so long since I last had bacon!" Senna said enthusiastically.

"You're eating it as if you haven't been fed in a month." Karin pointed out.

"You can tell, huh?" Senna grinned sheepishly.

Isshin let out a chuckle. He must have thought she was joking, Ichigo thought to himself.

"Well you're welcome to stay with us and sample Yuzu's cooking for as long as you need! I'll need to keep you nearby for a few days anyway just to make sure everything's alright, but if you keep taking the antibiotics and keep eating Yuzu's delicious food you'll be back to full strength in no time!" Isshin announced whilst giving a beaming Yuzu a pat on the head.

"He's just saying that to get more bacon." Karin muttered under her breath.

"Besides," Isshin added, "It just wouldn't be right to throw you out on the streets. Especially not when you've been making Ichigo into a man for the past week!"

"Dammit Dad!" Ichigo snarled at him. In response Isshin closed his eyes and wagged a finger in the air.

"Now now Ichigo, your father understands." He stated smugly. "There's no need to be embarrassed about it."

Upon opening his eyes Isshin was greeted with the sight of Ichigo giving him a look that said "continue, and I will end you.". Taking the hint he dropped the subject.

"Now then Senna, what is your home phone number?" Isshin asked. "I'll need it so I can call your parents and explain why you didn't come home last night and that I'll need to keep you in for a few days."

"Oh... urmm... I don't remember all of it. But I could always visit them later and tell them."

Isshin thinks for a moment.

"Hmm... yes that should be fine. But for now its nearly time for school, so you need to get ready Yuzu."

Yuzu nodded happily in agreement.

"What school do you go to?" Isshin asked Senna. "I could give a lift since you can't walk very well."

"I go to Ichigo's school." Senna lied, giving Ichigo a subtle smirk.

"Ah well in that case I'm sure Ichigo could walk you in!" Isshin decided, leaving no opportunity for Ichigo to argue. "And if you want you could borrow one of the girl's uniforms."

"Sounds great!" Senna beamed.

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><p>A few minutes later Ichigo had gotten changed and was waiting outside Yuzu's room. She was in there with Senna, looking for uniforms that would fit. After a further ten minutes of waiting he was getting impatient.<p>

"Will you two hurry up? We need to go!" Ichigo shouted through the door.

"We'll be out in a minute!" Yuzu's voice replied. Shortly afterwards Yuzu emerged from the bedroom in her school uniform. "She'll be out in a minute, she's just getting changed."

"Sure thing." Ichigo replied.

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><p>After another five minutes had passed Senna swung the door open and strode enthusiastically through it.<p>

"Ta-da!" She grinned as she struck a pose, "What do you think?"

"Hmm..." Ichigo murmured. It must have been one of the newer uniforms that were too big for Karin or Yuzu as there was no way that either of their clothes would have fitted her. He began following the her body with his eyes, starting at her petit shoulders, moving across the curves of her hips, and down her slender legs to her shoes. He liked what he saw.

"It looks good on you." He said, making Senna break out into a beaming grin. He then took the opportunity to look over her again, since it wouldn't make him look like a pervert. He thought he'd better add some criticism so that she didn't think he was just saying it to be nice. "Although the skirt is a little short."

He looked back up to her face to see that she was wearing a slightly inquisitive look.

"Not that I'm complaining." Ichigo added.

"So you like it then!" Decided Senna, breaking out into a grin again.

Ichigo smirked a little. That girl's smile is infectious...

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><p>Ichigo locked the door behind him. Yuzu and Karin had already left by the time he and Senna were ready, and his father had disappeared somewhere, so the two were left to walk to school alone.<p>

"Is it like this every morning?" Senna asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Ichigo replied with a casual scratch of his head.

"Good! It was fun!" Senna giggled.

"So why did you say you went to my school anyway?"

"Welllll... I don't know any schools around here, and I had to say something" Senna said pensively, "So I said yours."

"That's smart thinking." Ichigo said. "I can keep an eye on you too that way."

"And I can annoy you." Senna added with a grin.

"Ah, so that was your plan."

Senna giggled girlishly in response as they walk around a street corner.

"So what's going to happen later?" Ichigo asked.

"Later?"

"Where are you going to go after school?"

Senna's upbeat expression sunk a little at this.

"Well...I don't have anywhere to go...so..."

I can see where this is going, Ichigo thought to himself.

"I was thinking of taking your dad up on his offer of staying at your house for a while."

"Sure." Ichigo agreed. "I haven't got anything against it."

"Thanks Ichigo!" Senna chirped.

"Oh and sorry about my dad this morning. " Ichigo added apologetically.

"That's alright, I thought he was funny!" Senna replied, still smiling toothily.

"That's good." Ichigo said as he pushed the wait button on the traffic light. "You'd better get used to it though because he'll be making the same joke about us two being together every single morning."

"Hmmm..." Senna put on a mock serious face, saying. "Well I guess in that case I'll have to rethink it."

After pausing for a moment she continued;

"I think I'll be able to put up with it, so you're just going to have to put up with me!" She ended by sticking her tongue.

Ichigo let a smirk wash across his face before it set into a slight scowl once more. He knew he was going to have to ask her about last night and about where she was for the past two years. They were alone now so this was a good time to ask, and the longer he left it the harder it would be to ask. They crossed the road as the traffic light turned to red and the pedestrian walk signed turned green.

"Hey...uhh...about last night..."

Senna looked up at him wearing her inquisitive face again.

"I mean... one minute you weren't real and the next you were. What happened?"

"I... don't really know, if I'm honest." She admitted, and looked back down at the ground. "For a long time I was in this dark room. There was nobody there, just me and the dark."

She looked up at Ichigo again who was looking worried.

"It wasn't painful or anything." She added, which eased his concerned expression. "I was just... lonely, I guess."

She sighed longingly and paused for a moment before continuing.

"I don't know how long I was there for, but then one day I heard your voice. After that the floor started to leak water. Since it was just a small, closed room it began to fill up. I remember that when it got above my head I heard a splash. Thinking back that was probably you." She said with sheepish grin. "Either way, the next thing I knew you were pulling me to the surface. I don't where you came from or how you got there, but you brought me to a riverbank. It's a bit of a blur after that..."

"The important thing is you're safe now, and you're back here where you belong." Ichigo said, trying his best to sound comforting. It must have worked because Senna's face lit up again.

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><p>A few minutes passed without anything being said, where the only noise came from their footsteps and from the cars driving past. This is nice, Ichigo thought to himself. It was good to be with her. It didn't really matter if they were talking to each other or not, or whether they were alone. It was good just to have her back in his life. He didn't really understand where she'd been all this time, or even how he managed to get her back. All that matter to him was that she was at his side.<p>

"Thank you."

"Huh? For what?" Ichigo muttered. He looked down to Senna who was staring at the ground quietly. Ichigo grinned a little.

"I wasn't about to let you drown."

"It's not just that..."

"Then...what is it?" Ichigo asked, a little confused.

"It's everything else as well." She said as she looked up at him.

"You stayed with me and held my hand in the ambulance. The medics tried to put you in a separate one, but you just wrapped your other arm around the stretcher's leg and said 'I'm not moving until I know she's going to be alright'. Even when we got to the clinic you wouldn't leave until you knew I was comfortable and wouldn't disappear back to wherever I came from while you were away."

Senna stopped walking and Ichigo stopped next to her.

"So thank you."

Her voice was almost a whisper now. Her bright amber eyes were staring into his; a tear began rolling down her check.

"I missed you Ichigo..."

"I missed you too Senna. Every minute of every day..."

Senna stepped closer to him; her hand gently nudged into his. She smiled lightly;

"I think I could tell..."

Ichigo brushed his hand along her arm.

"...I was so lonely Ichigo... I wanted to see you..."

His hand followed the curve of her shoulder until it reached the softness of her cheek.

"Its okay now..." Ichigo cooed. "You can see me anytime. I won't let the same thing happen again."

She lightly nuzzled her head against his chest as he brushed stray hairs from in front of her eyes. Ichigo quietly wondered how he managed to live without her in his life for so long. He watched as her gaze slowly travelled back and forth between his eyes and his lips. He knew what she wanted him to do.

...

"ICHI-GOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ichigo's head bolted round at the direction of the interruption. Keigo and Mizuiro where standing back at the traffic lights they had crossed a few minutes before, waving at them. Senna quickly stepped back from Ichigo before wiping her eyes and fiddling profusely with her skirt. Ichigo sighed deeply and waved back. Before long the two intruders were within talking distance.

"Hi Keigo, Mizuiro."

"Good morning Kurosaki." Mizuiro started. "How are you this mor-"

"Ooohhhh! Ichigo! Who's this?" Keigo squealed whilst signaling to Senna.

"Oh this is Senna. Senna, this is Keigo and Mizuiro."

"Hi, nice to meet ya!" Said Senna whilst wearing her customary grin.

"You too." Mizuiro acknowledged. "I'm Mizuiro by the way. He's Kei-"

"You never said you had a girlfriend Ichigo!" Keigo interrupted.

"I don't!" Ichigo growled. "Senna isn't my girlfriend, she... just lives near me. And she's joining our school today so I thought I'd walk her in."

That sentence wasn't entirely true, Ichigo thought to himself. He had his back facing towards them when they saw him so they couldn't have seen anything which would tell them otherwise.

Keigo looked positively ecstatic at the news.

"Ahhh! That means she's free! Maybe I have a chance...?"

"No." Senna said simply, still smiling away.

"B-b-but you don't know me yet! We could be a perfect match!" Keigo stuttered.

"Nope, sorry."

"Awww..." Keigo sighed.

"I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm going to get moving." Said Mizuiro. "We're going to be late enough as it."

"Sounds like a plan." Ichigo agreed solemnly.

With that the four of them walked the rest of the way to the school together.

* * *

><p><em>So, its been a long wait. Has it been worth it? I hope it has, I busted my b***s on this thing! <em>

_I've been watching some of the older episodes of bleach recently and I think I've managed matched Isshin's level of..."uniqueness" that he displays in them. He's certainly a good character to write for._

_In my opinion I'm not a particularly good writer of romance scenes (or action scenes for that matter), but I don't think I did too bad a job of the scene in here. If you have any compliments or criticisms of the way romance is handled then be sure to leave a review._

_Finally, thank you to all those who left a review on the first chapter. If you hadn't left reviews on it I probably wouldn't have bothered writing this second chapter so this is all because of you! I'll be writing a third chapter soon so stayed tuned! ...Or whatever the internet equivilent is!_


	3. School days

_So the third chapter has been written and published in a reasonable amount of time, as promised. I'd just like to say a quick thank you to The Dark Eccentric for pointing out my inconsistencies between chapters. I have a nasty habit of not rereading previous chapters before writing new ones, so sometimes these things crop up from time to time. Either way they should have all been patched up now. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>After a short walk the group arrived at the school just as the bell rung, signalling that it was time for the students to go inside for lessons.<p>

"Phew! Just in time!" Keigo sighed.

"We would have got here quicker if you had walked faster instead of trying to hit on Senna." Mizuiro replied with a blank expression.

"What? I did no such thing!" Keigo exclaimed loudly.

Ichigo had put up with this bickering since the two had found him and Senna earlier, and his patience with them was wearing thin. He coolly turned his back on the two in the hope that he'd be better able to ignore them that way, and asked Senna what class she was in.

"Huh? Oh… I don't know." Senna replied putting a finger up to her mouth in thought. "I suppose I should go and see the headmaster to get assigned to a class. I didn't really think this far ahead." She added with a giggle.

"Ohhh Ichigo!" Keigo shouted out from behind Ichigo, making his scowl deepen in anticipation for whatever he was about to say. "At lunch we should introduce everyone to your friend!"

After a moment of thinking it through Ichigo decided that he'd agree in the hope that it would shut him up.

"Sure." Ichigo replied nonchalantly, making a happy Keigo punch the air in victory. Ichigo then wished Senna a fleeting goodbye and made his way up to his class. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long day today.

* * *

><p>The morning lessons went by fairly normally, albeit at a snail's pace. Ichigo lazily doodled on his book as his mind wandered from one thing to the next. However it was never long before it came full circle and ended up back on Senna.<p>

"I wonder how she's fitting in?" Ichigo thought to himself. Although she was a talkative and friendly person she also seemed to be the sort of person who would be pushed to the edges of the various social circles in the school. Maybe introducing her to his friends would be a good idea after all; he'd be able to see her more often that way as well. Sure he'd be able to see her after school, it would be a little hard not to considering that they lived in the same house now, but it still felt like there was a long time in between now and being able to see her back at home.

Ichigo let out a gentle yawn and looked up at the clock. There was only a minute or so before the start of lunch so he figured he may as well start packing his stuff away now. Sure enough, by the time he had put his pencils away the bell had rung and the teacher was dismissing the class. Ichigo put his book scruffily into his bag before getting up and looking over his shoulder.

"Rooftop again?" he asked loudly to nobody in particular. Tatsuki was the first to answer him;

"Sure, its nice enough weather so we may as well make the most of it." She answered as she packed her bag. "Oh and Ichigo, what's this about your friend?"

"You mean Senna?" Ichigo asked as he looked over at Keigo and Mizuiro.

"Yeah something like that. Keigo said you brought a new girl into school. Apparently she has the hots for him."

"Is that right…" Ichigo quietly growled as his eyes narrowed on Keigo. Tatsuki looked up from her bag and after seeing him angrily eyeing Keigo gave a small grin.

"Yeah I thought that the last part was off."

"A little." He frowned. "Anyway I'd better go and find her otherwise she'll end up lost. I'll meet you up there." Ichigo said as he put his bag on and left the room.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Ichigo to find Senna. She was hovering absentmindedly around an automatic door, trying to get as close to it as possible before it opened. Ichigo grinned inwardly as he silently crept up behind her.<p>

"Enjoying yourself?"

Senna jumped, making the door open and causing her to huff angrily. She looked around to see who had made her lose the game, and upon discovering it was Ichigo she quickly broke into a smile.

"Yeah, its surprising how much fun you can have with a revolving door."

"I'm sure."

"It is! Except it loses a lot of its appeal when someone makes you jump. It spoils the game." She said as she turned her back on him and pouted, pretending to be offended.

"In that case I apologize." Ichigo said as he tried to keep a neutral expression. "If you want I can try and make it up to you by buying you lunch."

Senna turned her head slightly to show she was listening to his proposal.

"Are you paying?"

"Looks like I'm going to have to unless I want you to be grumpy with me for the rest of the day."

"Well…" Senna started as she turned around and giggled. "I that case I accept your apology!"

* * *

><p>One trip to the canteen later and the pair were climbing the steps to the school roof. As they opened the door leading outside they were greeted with the sight of a noisy group of youths happily tucking into their lunches. Chad was sitting with Keigo and Mizuiro who were discussing milkshakes, whereas Tatsuki, Orihime and Rukia were sitting slightly apart from the three boys, probably to avoid being dragged into Keigo's overly passionate explanation of why chocolate milkshakes are better than strawberry ones. Ishida on the other hand was sitting alone so that he could better concentrate the fabric he was sewing.<p>

"Come on." Ichigo nodded in the direction of the three girls. Since Keigo and Mizuiro had already met Senna he decided he'd be better off sitting with the others, especially since Keigo seemed to have a certain fascination with Senna. Ishida would probably be too busy working to give much in the way of conversation, leaving the group of girls as the best choice.

As the pair walked up to the girls Orihime spotted them and waved enthusiastically.

"Good afternoon Kurosaki-kun!" She chimed happily.

"Good afternoon Inoue." Ichigo replied in a somewhat more subdued manner as he sat down next to her.

"Nice of you to join us." Greeted Rukia with a slight frown.

The look on her face reminded Ichigo that she wasn't in a good mood with him at the moment since for the past week he had virtually abandoned his night time hollow slaying duties. This was of course due to his obsession with the vortex he had found in the river, however in his rush to see it each and every night he may have forgotten to mention it to Rukia. The fact that she had been left to cover for him without any explanation coupled with the high amount of hollow activity lately had left her in a foul mood.

"This is Senna." Ichigo announced, choosing to ignore Rukia's bad temperament.

"Nice to meet ya!" Senna smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Orihime smiled back. "I'm Orihime Inoue."

"Hey." Tatsuki said simply. "So you're the girl who has the hots for Keigo then?"

"Wha…What?" Senna stumbled, taken aback by the sudden remark.

"Oh I thought you knew." Tatsuki said as she absentmindedly opened a packet of crisps. "He's been boasting about it all morning so I thought you would have heard by now."

"He what?" Senna exclaimed angrily. She picked up a nearby pebble before turning around and throwing it at Keigo, hitting him in the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey! What was for?" Keigo cried before turning around to see who had thrown the pebble. He came face to face with an angry Senna, who after scowling at him turned back and started munching on her lettuce sandwich.

"Ohhh, I see how you want to play it…" Keigo grinned slyly.

Ichigo watched as Keigo picked up another small pebble and tossed it lightly back at Senna. In retaliation she put her sandwich down, got up, and walked to the other side of the rooftop. At this point even Ishida had quietly stopped what he was doing to watch the scene unfold. For a few minutes Senna simply walked around the edge of the roof.

"What's she doing?" Orihime thought out loud as Senna disappeared behind the small building that housed the stairs. After a moment Senna reappeared holding something behind her back; the misleading smirk on her face growing ever larger as she hobbled back towards the group.

"..I… don't know…" Ichigo said quietly.

"Keigo?" She smiled sweetly.

"Yeeees?" Keigo replied with a cheesy grin.

"Hold out your hands."

Keigo obediently did as he was told. Senna then took the basketball sized rock out from behind her back, causing Keigo to recoil in fear despite her still being at least ten meters away.

"Wh-wh-what are you going to do with that rock?" Keigo stammered.

Senna said nothing, but kept smiling sweetly and slowly walked towards him.

"S-S-Senna…?"

When she got within arm's reach she slowly lifted the rock as high as her wobbly arms would let her, causing Keigo to let out a terrified scream and run from her at full speed.

"AIIEEEEEE!" Keigo shrieked as Senna valiantly tried to give chase, although the combination of her weakened legs and the weight of the rock kept her admirer from being in any immediate danger of being stoned to death.

"Come back here! I just want to talk!" Senna shouted after him.

"I like her." Tatsuki grinned.

"Agreed." Stated Ishida; Chad and Mizuiro nodded in agreement as a worried Orihime tried to calm the situation down.

* * *

><p>The rest of the school day passed uneventfully in comparison to the excitement of lunch. As the leaving bell rang out the students happily packed their bags and made their way to the front gate. Ichigo was just leaving his classroom when Rukia tapped him on the shoulder.<p>

"Can I have a word with you?"

"Sure." Ichigo agreed and she pulled him to a quiet spot at the side of the corridor, out of the earshot of any of the others. He wondered if this was about his recent night time activities, and decided to ask.

"Is this about me not killing enough Hollow lately?"

"Partially." Rukia said; the frown from earlier was still plastered across her face. "Its also about that girl that you brought with you today."

"Right…" Ichigo said in return. He could see where this was going…

"Has she got anything to do with you not doing your job?"

"No…" Ichigo lied. "Definitely not."

The eyes of the black haired shinigami narrowed as she looked for any hint that he was being untruthful. One thing Ichigo had quickly learnt to do since knowing Rukia was how to maintain a poker face in front of her; the ability to do so had saved him from many beatings.

"Okay." Rukia said, content that what he was saying was true.

"Alright then." Ichigo concluded. He was planning on walking home with Senna, so was eager to get away from Rukia's scolding and find her.

"Not so fast." Rukia half-yelled as Ichigo went to leave.

"Well what else do you want?" Ichigo retorted.

"There's something about her I don't trust…"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo replied, beginning to get annoyed.

"There's something off about her." She continued as she looked down the hallway to make sure she wasn't within earshot. "Her reiatsu is…odd. Its not that of a normal human, but its not that of a soul reaper either, or anything else for that matter."

"So?"

"So I want you to watch her. Make sure she isn't a threat."

"Uh-huh." Ichigo yawned. It was Rukia herself that told him that nobody would be able to remember Senna after she disappeared. So, whilst a little ironic, it made sense that she wouldn't be able to remember Senna, or what she was for that matter. Ichigo frowned; it would have made things a damn sight easier if other people remembered her. He wouldn't have to go through the process of reintroducing her to everyone that way either.

"Ichigo! Are you paying attention?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you. She won't be a problem."

"Good." Rukia said before adding with a smile; "You won't mind if I tag along with you two then?"

"…Eh?" Ichigo answered with an unintelligent look on his face.

"She's living with you now right? Well I wanted to go to the convenience store that's on the way to your house, so if its fine with you I'm going to walk with you two."

"Uhh….sure." Ichigo said with a scratch of his head. "How did you know she was living with me?"

Rukia gave him a mocking smile.

"Reiatsu, Ichigo. You might be oblivious to it but there are soul reapers who actually take notice of it." She replied teasingly before walking off.

"You cheeky little…" Ichigo growled quietly, before deciding it was best to let it go.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo!" Senna waved as he stepped out onto the courtyard.<p>

"Hey." He said with a wave in return.

"You took your time." She stated with an inquisitive look.

"Yeah I was talking with Rukia. She says she's going to walk with us to the convenience store on the way home."

"Great idea! We can get some stuff on the way back too!"

Ichigo thought he should ask who would be paying for the 'stuff', but on second thoughts he already knew the answer to that.

"Hey Rukia!" Senna said, waving to Rukia as she walked out of the doors to the school.

"Hey." Rukia waved back with a smile. Her fake smile, Ichigo noted. "Shall we go then?"

* * *

><p><em>Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If anyone spots any more plot inconsistencies then by all means tell me and I'll fix them. If anyone was wondering the story takes place after the fullbring arc but before what's happening in the manga. As always reviews are both appreciated and motivational, so more reviews will result in the next chapter getting written sooner.<em>


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